Abdulle Elmi, the city’s 26th homicide victim, was a University of Minnesota student who moved to Toronto several years ago to get away from his troubled Minneapolis neighbourhood.

Abdulle Elmi died of multiple gunshot Thursday morning. Police have not linked his death to the Eaton Centre attack, where his cousin was killed.

By:Yamri TaddeseStaff Reporter, Published on Sat Jul 07 2012

Years before Abdulle Elmi was gunned down in a quiet Etobicoke street, his family decided it would be safer for the University of Minnesota student to leave his troubled Minneapolis neighbourhood and move to Toronto with his grandmother.

Elmi, 25, died of multiple gunshot wounds to the torso Thursday morning. He was the cousin of Eaton Centre shooting victim Ahmad Hassan.

Police have not linked Elmi’s death to the Eaton Centre attack.

Although he was killed in Etobicoke, police are asking if anyone saw Elmi near Yonge and College Sts. after 3 a.m. on Thursday. Police say he may have been driven to Etobicoke.

A source in the Somali community said people close to Elmi wonder if he was lured from his home near Spadina and Dundas Sts. shortly before his death.

Luke Rusch, who calls Elmi his best friend, said they last spoke in May after Hassan was gunned down in the Eaton Centre’s food court.

“He sounded very upset,” said Rusch.

“For people who knew him, this is very shocking,” said Rusch, who spoke with a tear-choked voice on the phone from Minneapolis on Saturday. “He was really against violence, always wanted to help people in a meaningful way.”

The eldest of four siblings, Elmi was born in Toronto but later moved to Minnesota with his family and lived in Cedar-Riverside, a neighbourhood known for gun violence.

The South High School graduate joined University of Minnesota at 17 to study political science before moving back to Toronto.

Franz Dahinpen, Elmi’s classmate in high school and university, said Elmi was “passionate about justice.” He attended anti-violence protests, rallied students against police brutality and volunteered at youth festivals, said Dahinpen.

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